The Color Red
by Captain Arbitrary
Summary: Lloyd's feelings are like the color red. One shot. LloydxColette, hinted SheenaxZelos.


Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

Also, I have not played ToS2 in case there are any discrepancies. Please enjoy.

* * *

Lloyd hadn't thought about these kinds of things, until now. He hadn't thought about these kinds of things at all on his journey to reunite the worlds. It hasn't even been a year since then. Even at the tender, ripe age of 17, going on 18, he had been oblivious in all matters concerning that which had only recently occurred to him… and in a way, it terrified him. These feelings. These _urges_. These desires. And he was ashamed even to admit it to himself, in the privacy of his own mind. But he just couldn't help but repeat her name again and again. It was like a chant that brought him closer to her every time he recited it.

_Colette… is pretty._

Colette. His childhood friend. The person he risked his life to save, to protect, to cherish. And it had only just occurred to him that he had developed feelings for her. Naturally, the more time they spent alone together, searching for Exspheres, the closer he grew to her and her to him. But he just couldn't look at her the same way as he did before. Granted, she hadn't changed much. Same long hair, same blond color with that same thin frame. Same blue eyes, same clothes, same thoughtful expression.

But she was the exception to the rule—the one thing he would never get bored of. Every same old thing about her is what he liked the most.

Colette was Colette.

And there were many different kinds of feelings mixed into this bowl of uncertainty.

Joy: That warm and fuzzy feeling he got whenever he thought about her or that strange tightening sensation in his gut whenever she said his name, or looked at him.

Doubt: Did she feel the same way, or did she want to remain friends? Would the consequences of revealing such feelings be detrimental to their friendship? Were they even sound feelings to begin with?

And hesitation: Is it worth it and how should he go about it? Lloyd was very new to this and had no idea how to approach her. During the day, he found it increasingly difficult to stare at her directly without turning red in the face. And he knew that Colette was sharp about these things and would grow suspicious if he acted strangely around her, so he tried his best to grin and bear it during the day. But night was a different story.

On this night, they were camping out in the middle of the wilderness, as they often did. They left a dim fire going in the center of camp and slept on opposite sides of the circle. Some nights, Noishe would occasionally curl up next to Colette for some reason.

Tonight was one of those nights.

It annoyed Lloyd, at first. He was jealous—but was he jealous of Colette or the dog? Maybe both. It was cold tonight and Noishe's fur was always warm to the touch, but it didn't really matter at this point. Lloyd hadn't been sleeping very much lately anyway.

His eyes glazed over as he began to stare off into dreamland while staring at Colette across the fire. Morning would come before he knew it, and that would be the end of it. But for now, it was enough for him. He shamefully admitted to himself how creepy it was to just stare at her, especially when she was asleep, but he couldn't help it, even if he sacrificed sleep to do it.

He just… liked the way Colette's skin radiated from the light of the fire. He liked watching the rhythm of her breathing as she slept, and he would chuckle as she groaned in her sleep whenever she was uncomfortable. He liked how every night she would clasp the necklace he had made for her in her hand. Colette prayed every night and he didn't really understand why. It almost looked like she used the necklace he gave to her in prayer, just as he had once told Sheena to pray through Corrine's bell. He wondered what she had been praying for lately, besides world peace anyway.

Colette stirred and slowly opened her eyes. When Lloyd noticed this, he quickly averted his eyes from her, and for the rest of the night was too scared to look at her in the face.

* * *

The following morning, Lloyd was dozing off as Colette made breakfast. He was dead tired. Even after he snapped out of his daydream, he still couldn't get to sleep.

"Lloyd, have you been sleeping?" Colette asked intuitively.

He leaned back for a moment as if to slowly sink back down to the ground in sleep, but instantly shot up again. This had repeated itself a few times before. "What—yeah! I'm awake."

"I'm sorry… did you stay up again because you were worried about me?" Lloyd had lied to her in the past about sacrificing sleep to keep watch. Well, that wasn't a total lie. But it wasn't the real reason he stayed up almost every night.

"Stop apologizing, you dork. I said I'm fine." Lloyd quickly recited, turning away from her before she would notice. He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. He was red in the face again.

"Oh… okay." She whispered softly with a frown.

* * *

That afternoon they arrived in Mizuho after a long journey through a forest. Sheena had invited all of her former companions to the newly constructed village in Sylvarant for a gathering, but it was hard to get everybody together again when they were all off doing different things. Lloyd and Colette had a lot of time on their hands lately, so they decided to make the trip to see how Sheena and the villagers were doing. They couldn't believe what a beautiful job they had done. Mizuho had a rich culture that was so different from Sylvarant and Tethe'alla's. Intricate waterways separated many of the houses from each other and it just so happened to be early Spring, meaning that Mizuho's famous Cherry Blossoms were out in full bloom. The other flowers in the garden were only just starting to come out, but even so, everything looked so fresh and natural.

Sheena came out of the Chief's hut to greet her former companions, wearing her normal traveling clothes. Colette immediately noticed that her hair had grown lengthier since the last time they had seen her. Lloyd was half-asleep, staring absently into the distance, but smiled and waved once he saw Sheena.

"Impressive, huh?" Sheena grinned.

"It's beautiful, Sheena. And in such a short time!" Colette added.

"Beau..tiful.." Lloyd murmured absently, dozing off again. Colette glanced at him for a moment, noticing how large the bags under his eyes were.

"Well when we all work together, there's nothing we can't do!" They could tell Sheena was proud of the new construction, but more than that, she had grown from the cowardly assassin she once was into an enthusiastic leader.

"You guys have to stay in the village for one night, at least." She continued happily as she ushered them into the village. "Oh and just a friendly warning, Ze—"

"Well well, there's my cute little Colette!"

Colette and Lloyd spun around to see. "Zelos?"

"The one and only!" The red-headed Chosen grinned as he draped both arms around Colette and Lloyd's shoulders. They had no idea he would be here, too.

"…Yeah, Zelos is here too." Sheena finished flatly.

"Sheeeeeenaaaa!!" He whined, pushing past the two. "What, I don't get a warm welcome? Come on." He approached her slowly. She grew defensive at the sight of him and his wandering eyes.

"You're here all the time! You're always hanging around here, ever since we reunited the worlds! Don't you have royal duties to attend to or something?"

"Well yeah, but you're the 'Emissary of Peace,' remember?" He recited, waving a small missive from the King in her face.

"You could send a messenger to give me these things you know. Why do you always have to show up and screw things up!?" She shot back, raising the tone of her voice.

"Screw what up? There is only one babe in this village and I am still trying to get her to screw—OW!" Sheena kicked him hard in the shin before he could say anything more and snatched the letter out of his hand.

"Some things never change." Lloyd remarked along with a helpless grin from Colette. Colette glanced at Lloyd for a moment as she was smiling, and when he noticed her staring he instantly tensed up.

"But you certainly... er… have, Lloyd." Zelos winced, recovering from the blow as Sheena marched away in a huff.

"I have?"

"He has?" Colette added.

"It's okay if you don't see it, Colette, since you're always together. Besides, it's... uh, guy's intuition. I can tell you've grown up a little, Bud. You've got the look."

"Look? What look?" Lloyd was annoyed.

Zelos ignored his comment and drifted over to Colette, embracing her in a bear-like hug. "Ah, my little Colette. I missed you, hun!"

Lloyd gritted his teeth as he watched this. He had no idea why he was so upset. It's not like Zelos was _hurting_ Colette or anything. The perverted Chosen perched his chin on Colette's shoulder as he held her tightly while grinning at a fuming Lloyd.

"See?"

"Zelos, I, uh, missed you too." Colette added hesitantly as he let her go. She turned to look at Lloyd, whose face was completely red by now. "Lloyd? Are you ok?" She touched his forehead with the back of her hand. "You're hot… Do you feel sick? You might have a fever."

"I'm fine, Colette. R-really!" He flinched as he pulled away from her. After pulling away, he refused to look at her, and Colette noticed. She was startled by his flinch and frowned, staring down at her feet.

"Zelos, you should be nicer to Sheena if you want her to like you!" Lloyd snapped. He had no idea why he even bothered bringing it up. He was angry about Colette, not Sheena, but truthfully he didn't want to talk about either.

"Ouch, Lloyd. You didn't have to hit a sore spot." Zelos replied, feigning affliction. "Colette, did you see what he did to me? He didn't have to say it like that, even if I have a hard time approaching the person I like because I'm a _coward_."

"Lloyd… Don't be too hard on Zelos." Colette hesitated.

"Whatever… I-I'm going to see where Noishe went." Lloyd excused himself, turning away as he hastily made his way out of the village. Colette stared at him until he was out of sight before sighing.

"Don't take it personally, Colette." Zelos reassured. "Lloyd's just, uh, going through some guy things. He'll be alright."

"Lloyd has been acting strange lately… His face is always red when he looks at me, and he's always very tired, but the worst part is that he dismisses everything I say. I feel like I've become a burden on him…"

"No, you haven't, Colette. In fact…" Zelos began, but hesitated, knowing that it wasn't his place to say what he had in mind. "Well, don't worry about it. You just leave it to the great Zelos! I'll go see what's bothering Lloyd. Why don't you go calm Sheena down for me, hmm? Be sure to put in a good word for me." He winked and gently pushed Colette in Sheena's general direction.

"Ah, okay!" Colette forced a smile, looking over her shoulder as she watched Zelos walk smoothly out of the village. When he was nearly out of sight she frowned again and clutched her necklace.

* * *

"I'm such an idiot... Colette's probably worried sick by now." Lloyd groaned, crouching down with his head between his legs.

"You country folk are so clumsy when it comes to love." Zelos remarked casually. "It's a good thing I'm around to straighten things out."

The brown-haired swordsman stood up again and glared at Zelos.

"What do you know? And what were you doing to Colette back there!?"

"Proving a point: Your face."

"What is it about my looks!?"

"Your face, Lloyd. It's as red as your shirt, that's what. You're flushing. It's adorable."

"Gr…"

"And your nerves are shot. Have you been sleeping, Bud?" He asked as he zoomed in on the bags under Lloyd's eyes.

"N-not really…" Lloyd admitted. He hadn't been sleeping, and his nerves were shot. Had Colette noticed as well?

"It's because you're staying up late isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

"Thinking about… I don't know—Colette?"

"Yeah… I mean, no!"

"Aha!"

"I said no!"

"Lloyd, I know these things. You can confide in me about it. You have a crush on our cute little angel and don't know what to do about it! Well, you just leave it to the great Zelos Wilder, guru of love! I will make it my mission to bring the two of you together and—"

"But all you ever do is talk about s-sex!"

"Woah! You learned about sex? Did Kratos give you the talk before he left?"

"Zelos!"

"Do you think about Colette like that?" The Chosen smirked. He had crossed the line and Lloyd was getting angry again. "It's nothing to be ashamed about. You're just maturing, that's all."

"You see! You're just trying to manipulate me into thinking that it's okay to think about that."

"Ask the Professor the next time you see her, she'll tell you its natural."

"I don't care what it is to you or the Professor! I don't want to think about Colette like that… but I do, and I am ashamed of it." Lloyd admitted. He didn't want to, especially not to Zelos, but it had been on his mind a lot lately, and it was destroying him.

"Bud, just because you're thinking about it doesn't mean you have to act upon it. Or should." Zelos answered smoothly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, you haven't even told her how you feel yet. You'll have time for that later. But right now, you're too nervous to even look at her."

"Y-yeah…" He fidgeted. "So how do I say it? I l-like you…?"

"You don't have to say it so... Well, you don't have to say it like a little kid. You just have to show her you care in a way that won't make the two of you feel uncomfortable."

"Ah… okay! So in order to _show_ my feelings, I need to draw a picture!"

"You can draw?"

"N-no… not very well. Then, how about a letter?"

"You can write?"

"Of course I can!"

"Let me guess—'I like u, Colette. Plz go out with me?'"

"Well, something like that…"

" Do you even know how to spell her name?"

"Of course I do! Gah, this isn't helping! What would you do, Zelos?"

Zelos seized the opportunity without hesitation. "Well, first I would play some sensual music, spread some rose petals around, get her when she's vulnerable and--"

Lloyd cut him off before he could say any more, but there was no denying that he was still desperate. "I was thinking about maybe getting her a gift, but…"

"Colette doesn't need to be showered with gifts, Lloyd. She needs you." Zelos cut him off.

"I know that! But I haven't been able to think straight at all…"

"Well stop thinking for a little while. You're no good at that anyway. Rather, think about Colette right now."

"But I think about her all the time!"

"Maybe. But have you thought about her feelings, or just your own? Come on, Lloyd. You're not alone in this."

_How she must feel…_

"It's rude to keep a lady waiting, Bud."

* * *

After nightfall, Lloyd laid in the grass staring up at the moon while thinking about what Zelos said earlier. Maybe he should just be honest with Colette, or maybe she'll reject him completely. And, why was it so obvious to everybody else but him!? It wasn't fair. How could he not see it? It would be so much easier that way. But nothing is easy… Kratos, his father, taught him that, and so did Colette. They taught him to make some of the hardest choices in his life.

Staring up at the moon reminded him particularly of his father, who was somewhere out there on Derris-Kharlan. How did he fall in love with his mother? He was sure that was far from easy. Kratos might have been as lost as he is now. He wished he had gotten the chance to ask, but at the time, there were far more important things to worry about.

…And now, there are far more important things than Kratos for him to be worrying about.

Colette was the person he should be seriously thinking about. Just where was she anyway?

He remembered Zelos telling him that Sheena wanted Colette to spend the night at her house so they could catch up, but somehow he had talked her out of it. Lloyd did not have a clue as to how he managed to pull that off. But he did, and the compromise he made with her was that all of them would sleep outside together under the stars, like old times...

* * *

"I hope this works." Zelos murmured to himself, loud enough for Sheena to hear though.

"If you told Lloyd to do anything funny to Colette…" Sheena threatened.

"If he had asked, I would have gladly shown him some pointers. Hehehehe."

"You know, I really don't like your laugh… Anyway, I take that to mean that you didn't? Riiight?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Of course not. However, I would be happy to show you my skills tonight. Interested?" He smirked.

"I'll pass on that, thanks." She replied slyly, taking a seat beside him.

"I hope Lloyd thinks about what I said though. They both can be so clueless at times." Zelos added, staring up at the moon.

"It's nice, though, what they have… I wish I had someone like that." Sheena admitted bashfully, biting her lower lip. "I mean, someday maybe."

"Heh."

"Funny?"

"I won't wait any longer either, Lloyd."

"Zelos?"

* * *

Colette curled up in her blanket that night and buried her head against her pillow. Everybody thought it would be fun to sleep outside together, like old times, but then… why wasn't anyone around? Lloyd was gone, and Sheena and Zelos went off somewhere together.

Colette was alone tonight.

But she trusted her friends, who had risked everything to save her. She loved each and every one of them, especially one in particular. But maybe those feelings were one-sided... Didn't Sheena have feelings for Lloyd as well? Maybe they were together. Maybe they were all off having fun and Colette was just moping around for no reason. Maybe she and Lloyd were just spending too much time together. Maybe it's all in her head. Maybe she's changed, or he's changed. Maybe they were just friends. All these possibilities and not one of them she could cling to and move on with her life. The only thing that was certain was that she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight.

Her angelic hearing picked up the sound of footsteps approaching the campsite. They were getting closer and closer. Someone was coming back. She was tempted to jump up and greet them, but decided against it. It was cold and she was comfortable in her blanket. She lay curled on her side with her eyes open, just to see who it was, but there was no one coming from the other side. Everything went quiet. Was she mistaken? She sighed and closed her eyes. It was nothing.

She began to think about Lloyd again, as she did every night. It calmed her whenever she felt tense or uneasy. She would eventually fall asleep and dream about him, but not yet. She felt peaceful the way she was. Sometimes during the night, the crackle of the fire would arouse her senses and she would wake. Last night, she even thought she saw Lloyd staring at her for a second, but when she blinked he had already been asleep on his side.

It was just an illusion. He doesn't look at her anymore…

But for a second, she believed she could feel him again. She swore she could feel him embrace her, like he used to so casually. Still, this was different from then. It was a tight squeeze that almost came out of nowhere.

What she didn't realize right away was that it was really happening.

Two arms wrapped themselves around her from behind and pulled her in closer until she could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck. He nuzzled his cheek into the crook of her neck and whispered her name. She shivered at first, but relaxed as she felt a smile crept over her face. She could feel the blanket she had been clinging to being pulled over her, covering both of them. A loud crackle emitted from the fire and her eyes fluttered open.

"Lloyd?"

"I'm sorry I've kept you waiting, Colette. Turn around."

Now the only red she could see was his shirt and the glow of the fire against his face.


End file.
